HS1302 - US History since 1877 - Whitener

Research tips and help for writing blog posts for HS1302. Includes links to background sources like encyclopedias, article databases, how to find and use images, help locating primary sources, and an in-class library workshop activity.

Database of photographs from archives, museums, and other public institutions from around the world. Contributors include the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, the Smithsonian, George Eastman House, National Archives UK, etc.

Portal to various digital collections made available online by the Harvard University Library. Collections cover popular research topics like the women's history, the Holocaust, immigration, crime, etc.

For other ideas, take a look at this site, produced by the RUSA Division of the American Library Association, which was "designed to provide students and researchers with information to help them evaluate the internet sources and the quality of primary materials that can be found online."

"The Digital Archive contains once-secret documents from governments all across the globe... It collects the research of three Wilson Center projects which focus on the interrelated histories of the Cold War, Korea, and Nuclear Proliferation."

Europe

Images and other sources from the museum's collections. "Most images in the collection online are published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license."

Large archive of historic video from British Pathé. "All 85,000 newsreels are now searchable and viewable on YouTube. This equates to 3,500 hours of filmed history." Great source for contemporary historical research into topics like war (WWI, WWII), religion, culture, and science & technology. Videos and more details on the British Pathé website.

"Harvard’s Islamic Heritage Project (IHP) is a digital collection that includes over 280 manuscripts, more than 50 maps, and more than 275 printed texts from Harvard’s renowned library and museum collections. Through the IHP, these materials are freely available to Internet users worldwide." Most materials are not translated into English.

"Offers a single point of access to millions of items—photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more—from libraries, archives, and museums around the United States." Some material is freely available; access to copyrighted material is limited to in-person use at the member institution.

Manuscripts, artwork and rare printed books dating from the earliest contact with European settlers right up to photographs and newspapers from the mid-twentieth century. Also includes rare and original documents from treaties, speeches and diaries, historic maps, and travel journals. Materials from the Newberry Library’s Edward E. Ayer Collection.

Primary source material of Western Americana. Includes manuscripts, maps, rare book sources, and ephemeral material. Sources from the Everett D. Graff Collection of Western Americana at the Newberry Library.

Full text law journals, case law, and treaties. A number of collections include historical information, incuding, but not limited to: Early American Case Law, English Reports, Pentagon Papers, Slavery in America and the World, Women and the Law.

"a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. ... The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints."

US State Department portal to "all aspects of U.S. and international treaty law and practice." Includes Treaties in Force, Texts of International Agreements to which the US is a Party and other treaty links and materials.

"The Digital Archive contains once-secret documents from governments all across the globe... It collects the research of three Wilson Center projects which focus on the interrelated histories of the Cold War, Korea, and Nuclear Proliferation."

Texas

"the official Spanish documents that preserve the political, military, economic, and social life of the Spanish province of Texas and the Mexican state of Coahulia y Texas." Documents range from 1717-1805. Includes thousands of documents translated into English. The physical collection is archived at the University of Texas at Austin Briscoe Center.

"The Portal is a gateway to Texas history materials. From prehistory to the present day, you can explore unique collections from Texas libraries, museums, archives, historical societies, genealogical societies, and private family collections."

Use Google Advanced Search to Locate Primary Source Collections

Google Advanced Search will be a useful tool to help locate online primary source collections if you do not find ideas from the Online Primary Source page list of resources. You can tie your topic search with the following terms to find online primary source collections. Feel free to copy and paste the following into the box labeled "any of these words".

I recommend limiting your search to the site or domain. For instance, .edu for educational institutions, .gov for government websites, or .org for organizations. Org website are defined broadly so be very careful to evaluate sources from .org websites. Of course, you should always evaluate all sources you use.